Triangularly-shaped sail launching and retracting means



M r 1967 w. c. ROBERTS, JR, ETAL. 3,310,018

TRIANGULARLY-SHAPED SAIL LAUNCHING AND RETRACTING MEANS Filed Oct. 6,1966 INVENTORS. WILL/QM a. ROBERTS JR, 7 WALTER B. KERR ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent 3,310,018 TRIANGULARLY-SHAPED SAIL LAUNCHING ANDRETRACTING MEANS William C. Roberts, In, North Palm Beach, and VvalterB. Kerr, West Palm Beach, Fla; said Kerr assignor to W. C. Roberts, Jr.,North Palm Beach, Fla.

Filed Oct. 6, 1966, Ser. No. 584,756 9 Claims. (Cl. 114-104) Thisinvention relates to a device adapted for use in launching andretracting triangularly-shaped sails, such as spinnakers, or of the typeoften referred to as balloon spinnaker sails.

In the past, launching and retracting sails of the type here involvedhas been a difficult operation on sailboats, and the present inventionis of an improved means for performing this operation with a minimum ofdifliculty and danger of sail ensnarlment, and, in the case of somelarge boats, with a reduced number of personnel.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a spinnakersail launching and retracting means which includes a storage compartmentmeans for a generally triangularly shaped sail which includes a diffusersection with an open funnel mouth which smoothly merges and blends witha main body section so as to extend depthwise and rearwardly in a smoothcurve from the upwardly opening mouth and of a length to substantiallyhouse a sail and a sail retract line to connect to the central area of aspinnaker sail and extends through the storage compartment so that thesail may be furled by pulling the central zone into the mouth of thecompartment means to lead it into nesting relation in the sternmostportion of the compartment means and with the corners of the sail at themouth of the compartment means,

It is another object of this invention to provide a storage compartmentfor a triangularly shaped sail as set forth in the preceding paragraphwherein the diffuser section is of rigid material such as Fiberglas andthe body section is of flexible material and comprises an elongate sailstorage sack.

It is another object of this invention as set forth in the precedingparagraph wherein the sail storage sack is provided with an open firstend and strings to constrict the open first end whereby it is adapted tofit over and mate with the confronting end of the diffuser section forremovable attachment thereto and the second end is provided with anopening therethrough to accommodate passage of the retract line andmeans on the end of the sack to hold or anchor the second end of thesack in position with respect to a fixed point on a boat on which it isinstalled while the sail is being launched.

It is another object of this invention to provide a spinnaker saillaunching and retracting means which is simple in construction,inexpensive to manufacture, and is readily adapted to be installed onexisting boats and which is adapted for use in retracting, housing andlaunching spinnaker sails with existing ship hardware in a conventionalmanner.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparenthereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodimentthereof.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view partly in cross section to illustratethe details of the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a partial plan view of the bow of the ship substantially asseen in plan;

FIGURE 3 is a view in cross section to illustrate the spinnaker sail ina stored condition.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the funnel shaped section of thecompartment storage means; and

lCC

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of that portion of FIGURE 1 with thearrowed line 55 therearound.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like referencecharacters designate like or corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views, and referring particularly to FIGURE 1, it will be seenthat a triangularlyshaped sail 12, such as a spinnaker sail, is depictedin its ordinary position supported forward of the jib, not shown, by ahalyard 14, quite commonly a nylon lanyard, and lines 16 and 18connected to the clews 20 and 22 respectively at the lower corners 24and 26 of the sail. It is apparent that it is ordinarily quite diflicultto furl such a sail which is commonly used for running before the wind.In the present invention the deck 30 of the boat or ship is provided atthe forward end 32 adjacent the bow with a depending storage compartmentmeans 33 having (a) a funnel diffuser section 36 having an upwardlyopening mouth 34, the said section being of diminishing cross-sectionalarea and extending depthwise and rearwardly in a smooth curve to anopening 37 in the flared end 38 and (b) a body section 39 of generallytubular form with an opening 41 in the end thereof. A spinnaker sailretract line 40 is connected to the central zone 42 of the spinnakersail by means of the force distributing patch 46 shown in FIGURE 5 andextends through the compartment means and out the opening 41 runningtoward the rear of the ship as do the lines 16 and 18.

In operation, to launch the sail the halyard is drawn around the pulley48 supported in the upper region on the mast 50 and the lines 16 and 18are controlled as is the retract line 40 and, thereafter, the sail istrimmed in the ordinary manner. To retract the spinnaker type sail thereverse procedure is followed: that is, the retract line 40 is used topull the central Zone of the spinnaker sail into the mouth of the funnelas the halyard is slacked and, thereafter, the lines 16 and 18 areslacked as the sail is drawn into the nested and housed position shownin FIGURE 3.

While the diffuser section and body section may be of smooth, continuousone-piece construction of rigid material, such as Fiberglas, which isshown in FIGURE 3, the preferred embodiment is shown in FIGURE 1 inwhich the said section 36 provides the smooth, funnelshaped entrancecurving downwardly and rearwardly from a flared mouth which ispreferably provided with an extending lip 56 to rest on the marginaledge 57 of an opening in the deck. The extending edge is provided with aflange 59 by reason of which it is adapted to receive the open end of aflexible sail storage sack generally designated 39 in FIGURE 1. Themouth 61 of the sail storage sack is preferably provided with a drawstring to tighten it and hold it in position over the extending end ofthe diffuser section. The end cap 66 of the sack is provided with anopening 66' generally facing in the stern-wise direction and the sack isadapted as by the external tie strings 71 to be anchored in apredetermined position with respect to the hull of the ship. Anchoringmeans composed of either suitable nuts and bolts as shown in FIGURE 3 orcement or epoxy resin means such as shown in FIGURE 1 may be used tohold the lip in position with respect to the deck. FIGURE 4, it will beseen, illustrates the preferred construction for the diffuser sectionand FIGURE 5 illustrates the force distributing patch which it is seenis adapted to connect to the hook means 73 on the distal end of theretract line 46 with the said patch comprising a main body 81 havingdiagonal straps such as 82 and 83 secured thereto as by the seams 85 and86 which are raised at the point of intersection to define the partialloop 91 to engage the bite of the hook 73. The patch is then seamedalong its marginal edges as by the seams 96 so as to distribute theforces over a central zone of the sail, the central zone being definedas that portion of the sail area on the altitude line which issubstantially equidistant from all corners.

The sail is most easily loaded into the funnel-shaped diffuser sectionand body section, which in the preferred embodiment is the storage sack,by two persons. One person at the rear of the boat pulls the sail inwith the down-haul halyard or retract line which has been attached tothe central zone of the sail on that side which will be down wind whenthe sail is flying. The other, at the bow of the boat, holds the sail toassure that it is flowing into the funnel orderly and keeps the threecorners of the sail properly arranged. The port and starboard cornersare kept at their respective sides and the top of the sail should be inthe front center of the tunnel in leading position. The sail should bepulled in until the three corners are at deck level in the funnel.Thereafter, the down-haul halyard is cleated in this position and theleading central zone of the sail will have run to the distal end of thesack or bottom of the sail storage sack. The last step is to attach eachline to its respective corner of the spinnaker sail and, thereafter,take the slack out of each line.

To launch the sail, the spinnaker halyard line is cleared and releasedfrom the down-haul halyard cleat. The up-haul halyard is utilized toraise the sail as the crew pulls the leeward spinnaker sheet at the sametime for approximately the first three or four feet of sail movement outof the funnel-shaped mouth to make the whole spinnaker move as one bodyand flow easily out of the storage compartment means. Pulling only theup-haul halyard causes the sail to tend to slide over itself while it isdeep in the tube or storage compartment means and this results in a veryhard initial pull being required to move the sail. After the spinnakerhas been pulled to the desired height the crew trims the sheets. Thespinnaker pole may then be put up or at the option of the user it may beput up before the sail has been hoisted. In the vent that it has beenput up before the sail has been hoisted, pole fittings will be utilizedwhich allow the spinnaker sheet to slide through them.

In retracting the sail, the spinnaker halyard is cleared. By pulling inboth spinnaker lines 16 and 18 the spinnaker sail is broken across thejib luff or forestay approximately symmetrically to cause the bottomportion of the spinnaker sail to ride up the forestay or jib luff. Atthis time the up-haul halyard cleat is released to free the up-haulhalyard so that the sail will respond to tension on the down-haulhalyard. The top area of the spinnaker sail will fall an amount equaltot he excess halyard line in the range of 5 to feet which is such thatthe upper spinnaker sail will not fall into the water. The centralregion or zone of the sail will be the first part of the sail to enterthe mouth of the compartment storage means. The upper spinnaker sailarea will flow into the funnel in an orderly fashion since it is beinglowered as fast as the rest of the spinnaker is being pulled into thefunnel and down the tube; and preferably the line and line 14 constitutea continuous up-haul down-haul halyard or line. The crew releases thelines as necessary to allow the sail to flow into the funnel and thedownhaul halyard is pulled until the sail hits the end of the sail sack,and at that point the down-haul halyard is cleated and the slack ispulled out of the up-haul halyard which is then cleated. At this pointthe crew may take down the pole and take the slack from the spinnakersheets.

While the invention has been shown and described herein in what isconceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment in FIGURE 2,it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scopeof the invention, which invention is therefore not to be limited to thedetails disclosed herein but is to be ac corded the full scope of theclaims so as to embrace any and all equivalent apparatus and articles.

What is claimed is:

1. In a boat of the type adapted to use a spinnaker sail of generallytriangular configuration and having three sail corners having anattachment means for a line to extend from each corner, a spinnakerstorage compartment means comprising: a diffuser section having anenlarged open funnel mouth facing upwardly and smoothly accessiblethrough an opening in the deck and extending depthwise and rearwardly ina smooth, continuous curve, and a main body section, said sectionsmerging and blending, and said body section terminating in a generallysternwise facing opening, and a sail retract line to connect to thecentral area of said spinnaker to extend through the storage compartmentand opening and to the rear of the boat so that the sail may beretracted by pulling the said sail retract line and drawing the centralzone of the sail as the leading portion into a nested position adjacentthe opening with the sail extending toward the mouth, the center line ofthe said storage compartment from a plane across the mouth and a planeacross the opening of the body section being of a length at leastsubstantially equal to the distance between the center of the centralzone of the spinnaker and the margin at the corners of the sail so thesail is adapted to be housed in the compartment when not in use and isadapted to be withdrawn from the compartment by three lines connected tothe attachment means respectively.

2. A device as set forth in claim it wherein lip means are provided toconnect the storage compartment means in depending relation through ahole in the deck of a boat adjacent the how.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 wherein fastening means are providedto connect the lip to the margin of the opening in the deck.

4. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein means are provided on theend of the retract line to connect to the central zone of a spinnakersail.

5. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the retract line is providedwith a force distributing patch to connect to the central zone of thespinnaker sail.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 wherein said force distributingpatch includes a first and a second diagonally extending strip, eachhaving a raised intersecting center portion defining a bite and beingsecured along their lengths extending outwardly of the bite to saidpatch.

7. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein the body section comprises aflexible sail storage sack of tubular form and anchoring means toconnect the distal end of the body section to the boat.

8. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said diffuser section isprovided with a flanged end to connect to the body section.

9. A device as set forth in claim 8 wherein said body section comprisesa flexible sail storage sack of tubular form and anchoring means toconnect the distal end of the body section to the boat and includes amouth adapted to fit over the flanged end and means to secure the mouthover said flanged end.

No references cited.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

T. M. BLIX, Examiner.

1. IN A BOAT OF THE TYPE ADAPTED TO USE A SPINNAKER SAIL OF GENERALLY TRIANGULAR CONFIGURATION AND HAVING THREE SAIL CORNERS HAVING AN ATTACHMENT MEANS FOR A LINE TO EXTEND FROM EACH CORNER, A SPINNAKER STORAGE COMPARTMENT MEANS COMPRISING: A DIFFUSER SECTION HAVING AN ENLARGED OPEN FUNNEL MOUTH FACING UPWARDLY AND SMOOTHLY ACCESSIBLE THROUGH AN OPENING IN THE DECK AND EXTENDING DEPTHWISE AND REARWARDLY IN A SMOOTH, CONTINUOUS CURVE, AND A MAIN BODY SECTION, SAID SECTIONS MERGING AND BLENDING, AND SAID BODY SECTION TERMINATING IN A GENERALLY STERNWISE FACING OPENING, AND A SAIL RETRACT LINE TO CONNECT TO THE CENTRAL AREA OF SAID SPINNAKER TO EXTEND THROUGH THE STORAGE COMPARTMENT AND OPENING AND TO THE REAR OF THE BALL SO THAT THE SAIL MAY BE RETRACTED BY PULLING THE SAID SAIL RETRACT LINE AND DRAWING THE CENTRAL ZONE OF THE SAIL AS THE LEADING PORTION INTO A NESTED POSITION ADJACENT THE OPENING WITH THE SAIL EXTENDING TOWARD THE MOUTH, THE CENTER LINE OF THE SAID STORAGE COMPARTMENT FROM A PLANE ACROSS THE MOUTH AND A PLANE ACROSS THE OPENING OF THE BODY SECTION BEING OF A LENGTH AT LEAST SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE CENTER OF THE CENTRAL ZONE OF THE SPINNAKER AND THE MARGIN AT THE CORNERS OF THE SAIL SO THE SAIL IS ADAPTED TO BE HOUSED IN 